【推荐1】There is a huge need for shark fins（鳍）in Asian countries. As a result, many sharks are caught and killed. According to reports, sharks are being killed at an shocking rate of up to 273 million worldwide every year.

Some experts predict that if the killing continues at the present rate, many shark species will be lost forever. It can be very dangerous. Sharks are very important and they should be protected.

In a study of the east coast of the United States, 11 species of sharks died out. Of the 14 species of ocean life that those sharks used to eat, the populations of 12 exploded and caused great damage to the ecosystem（生态系统）. For example, the cownose ray（鳐）population was no longer kept under control by sharks and so grew out of control. As a result, the rays destroyed the population of bay scallops（扇贝）, their favorite food. The scallop fishery, which had been in good condition for over 100 years, was destroyed completely. Also, the removal of the scallops most likely had an effect on water quality as they were no longer there to clean the water.

Sharks tend to eat very efficiently（高效地）, going after the old, sick, or slower fish in a population, keeping that population healthy. Sharks help keep many populations of ocean life to the right size so that those prey（猎物）species don't do harm to the ecosystem by becoming too populated. The ocean ecosystem is made up of very complex（复杂地）food webs. For the most part, sharks are at the top of these webs and are considered by scientists to be "keystone" species, meaning that removing them may cause the whole structure to fall apart. Therefore, we should protect sharks because doing so is to protect the whole ecosystem.

【推荐2】Soil creates life from death. The production of more than 95% of the food we eat relies on soil. But this precious resource is eroded (侵蚀) at a global average of 13.5 tons per hectare per year. Instead of nourishing crops, fertile topsoil is washed and blown away, ending up in inconvenient places such as ditches and oceans.

Jo Handelsman and Kayla Cohen try to make readers care about soil in A World Without Soil. Their prologue (前言) takes the form of a letter to the government. With the letter, they hope to make soil management a federal priority. The following chapters cover the basic science of soil as well as the causes and consequences of its erosion. In the last part of the book, the authors turn to possible solutions—many of them simple, and some centuries old. They describe about traditional soil management techniques, including planting diverse crops in rotation (轮种), increasing organic content, ploughing as little as possible, etc. With these techniques, farmers are able to produce rich agricultural production while maintaining deep banks of fertile soil.

Why, then, is fertile soil being allowed to be washed and blown away? The answer, not surprisingly, rests in global capitalism. Farmers’ profit is thin, forcing farmers to plant the highest-profit crop from field to field every season. To ensure food security, Handelsman and Cohen urge the world to demand a real top-down change in how agricultural production is managed. “The burden of protecting soil cannot be shifted to farmers and environmental activists,” they note. Governments must begin to move towards a model in which farmers are less independent business people growing and selling food, and more government-supported land workers managing both food production and soil protection. This should be the core of agriculture.

Our land and soil are too precious to be destroyed by the market price of crops. We must invest deeply and thoughtfully in our farmers so that they can invest deeply and thoughtfully in the land. This is the future of farming.

【推荐3】The pangolin might be a potential intermediate host of the novel coronavirus, as genome sequences of the disease strain separated from the animals were 99 percent identical to those found in infected people, a study has discovered.

The study, jointly conducted by researchers from South China Agricultural University and related scientific research institutes, will be of great significance to prevention and control of the source of novel coronavirus.

The study, announced at a press conference on Friday, analyzed more than 1,000 metagenomic samples by researchers.

Through molecular biological testing, it revealed the positive rate of beta coronavirus in pangolins was 70 percent.

By further isolating and identifying the virus, electron microscopy shows a typical coronavirus particle structure in pangolins, according to the study.

Researchers found genomic sequence similarities between the isolated virus strain and the currently infected human strain to be as high as 99 percent.

"We hope the study will be helpful for scientific prevention and control of the disease, as well as providing references for further scientific research," said Liu Yahong, president of South China Agricultural University.

【推荐1】Taking care of a sick loved one can put stress on your health. When taking care of the other person, you may ignore your own physical needs. You may find that your own health is failing. If you fall ill, you won’t be able to help.     1    

Eat well. When things seem out of control, you may have no time to focus on good eating habits.     2     Both of those put stress on you. Try to eat as healthily as you can, even if sometimes you have to rely on simple meals like salads.

Try to get enough sleep. Sleep can also be difficult when you're caring for a loved one. You may be too worried to sleep at times, or the task may interrupt your sleep.     3     Therefore, try to get as much as you can.

Take time to exercise. Exercising will also help you keep healthy while you're caring for a loved one. Exercise can reduce your stress level.     4     So you'll need to find ways to work it into your schedule. You can take a short walk a couple of times a day or do yoga at home.

    5     It can be easy to overlook (忽视) the health problems in yourself when you're caring for someone else. If you fall ill, that does not do anyone any good. So it's best to make sure you're in good health.

【推荐2】My university has now topped the U.S. News &. World Report rankings for 11 years running. Given Princeton’s success, you might think I would be a fan of the list. Not so. Don’t get me wrong. I am proud of Princeton’s teaching, research and commitment to service. I like seeing our quality recognized. Rankings, however, are a misleading way to assess universities. Different schools have distinct strengths, structures and missions. The idea of picking one as “best”, as though educational programs competed like athletic teams, is strange.

However, the U.S. News rankings attract great attention and a huge customer base. Applicants and their families rely on the rankings and feel pressure to get into highly regarded institutions. As a result, many schools make intense efforts to move up in the rankings. This competition produces damaging consequences. For example. some universities avoid doing difficult but valuable things—such as admitting talented lower-income students who can succeed at university if given appropriate support.

Still, students and families need comparative information to choose universities. If rankings mislead, what is the alternative? For generations, buyers have turned to Consumer Reports for advice about almost everything except university education. When Consumer Reports evaluates a product, it assesses multiple factors so that potential buyers can make their own choices wisely, Similarly, university applicants need information about some basic variables. Graduation rates are crucial. A university that does not graduate its students is like a car with a bad maintenance (维修) record. It costs money without getting you anywhere. What applicants need is not the average graduation rate, but the rate for students with backgrounds like their own. For example, some places successfully graduate their wealthy students but do less well for lower income students. Applicants should also see some measures of post-graduation outcomes.

Here is a partial list of other factors that matter: cost of tuition (学费) and fees; high-quality teachers actively engaged in undergraduate instruction; and a learning culture composed of diverse students who study hard and educate one another. Judged by these criteria, many schools could be “Consumer Reports Best Buys”. Applicants should be excited to get into any of them; they should pick the one they find most appealing; and they should not waste time worrying about which is “the best”.

It would be great to have a Consumer Reports for universities. I hope that some national publication will have the courage to produce an annual, user-friendly Consumer Reports-style analysis of higher education institutions, even if it is not as attractive as a football-style set of rankings. In the meantime, those of us who understand the imperfection in the rankings must call them out—even when, indeed especially when, we finish at the top.

【推荐3】We are all aware of the damaging pollution that’s created by driving petrol and diesel (柴油) vehicles. Many of the world’s cities are blocked with traffic, creating fumes containing gases such as nitrogen oxides. The solution for a cleaner, greener future could be electric vehicles. But how optimistic should we be? There was much excitement last year when the UK government announced it will ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030. But is that easier said than done?

The road to global traffic being totally electric is still a long way off. Currently, battery life is an issue — a fully charged battery won’t take you as far as a full tank of petrol. There are also limited numbers of charging points to plug an EV into. Of course, technology is always improving. Some of the biggest tech companies, like Google and Tesla, are spending huge amounts of money developing electric cars. And most of the big car manufacturers are now making them too. Colin Herron, a consultant on low-carbon vehicle technology, told the BBC: “The big leap forward will come with solid state batteries, which will appear first in mobile phones and laptops before they progress to cars.” These will charge more quickly and give cars a bigger range. Cost is another issue that may discourage people switching to electric power. But some countries offer incentive, such as cutting prices by reducing import taxes, and not charging for road tax and parking. Some also provide exclusive lanes for electric cars to be driven on, overtaking traditional cars which might be stuck in jams.

These kinds of measures have made Norway the country with the most electric cars per capita (人均) at more than thirty electric cars per 1000 inhabitants. But Colin Herron warns that “electric motoring” doesn’t mean a zero-carbon future. “It’s emission-free motoring, but the car has to be built, the battery has to be built, and the electricity does come from somewhere.” Maybe it’s time to think about making fewer journeys or using public transport.